Fan Voice

Fan Voice: Dwight Howard should know the city of Los Angeles loves him

The Los Angeles Lakers‘ superstar center Dwight Howard will be a free agent come July 1, 2013. He will probably talk to other teams such as the Houston Rockets, Atlanta Hawks, Dallas Mavericks and the dark horse Phoenix Suns, but he should know the fans of L.A. already love him.

Everyone that I have spoken to wants Dwight Howard to stay in L.A. and make it his home the next five years. Laker fans bought Howard’s jerseys, shirts and shoes, but money isn’t everything to Dwight: he wants to win, and if you win in L.A. there is a much higher reward than if you win anywhere else.

Dwight has a city that is ready to love him, the million dollar question is this: does Dwight Howard love them back? Truthfully, I really think he does.

The Lakers will have a max contract on the table worth nearly $118 million over five years, while other teams can only offer Howard a four year deal worth almost $88 million. That is a significant pay cut that he would take to play elsewhere.

The Lakers have got to show him that the future is bright, and it is, as in 2014 everyone will be off the books apart from Steve Nash. The Lakers can then go out and sign a big name free agent or two that summer.

So, the smart thing for Howard to do is return to Los Angeles and trust in the Lakers’ ability to make the necessary changes to win now and in the future.

This was an article by Mike Nasri. You can follow him on Twitter here: @LakersLDynasty